![]() “I remember going somewhere, but I don’t know if that was the name of the place,” Vazquez told Injustice Watch. On the village hall surveillance video, Vazquez and Wendorf can be seen walking and talking together around the time of Chi and her employee’s administrative hearing.ĭuring his brief interview with Injustice Watch, Vazquez initially denied having been to Sunnie Massage, but then he acknowledged he might have gone there after being asked about a positive online review of the massage parlor written under his name on Google. Wendorf did not return several emails and phone calls asking to interview him and Chi. The ARDC has recommended the Illinois Supreme Court censure him, records show. ![]() Wendorf was investigated by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, the state licensing body for lawyers. Last September, Wendorf was convicted of misdemeanor battery in DuPage County, after he was accused by a female client of sexual assault in his office in 2017, records show. State records also list Wendorf as a corporate secretary in a Chicago company providing spa and massage services. ![]() Wendorf, who records show has represented massage parlor owners and workers in three other Chicago area municipalities since 2015. Vazquez told Injustice Watch the attorney he suggested to Chi was Kevin P. Wendorf outside Brookfield Village Hall on July 18, 2022, the day the parlor owner and her employee appeared at a hearing to face citations for offering illicit sex acts. Vazquez (left) speaks with Sunnie Massage Parlor attorney Kevin P. Credit: Still photograph from Brookfield Village Hall surveillance camera Cook County Associate Judge Gregory P. Vazquez also goes inside the village hall for about a minute before coming back outside. On the Brookfield Village Hall parking lot security tape from July 18, Vazquez can be seen talking with Chi and her lawyer outside the building. Chi is listed as the agent for a spa company at that address on state records and acknowledged to officers during the raid that she is the owner. Sunnie Massage, the most recent massage business to operate at the address, shut down following the latest case. under various names for years, records show. Massage businesses raided by police for alleged sex work have operated at 9100 Ogden Ave. I don’t think I went inside, I just stayed in the car and waited. She had no way of getting there, so I said I’ll take you, and that was it. “When she called me, I referred her to a lawyer. “And there is no massage parlor she doesn’t work there, she doesn’t own it, and there is no longer anything of that nature. After being asked about the security footage, he said he played no role in Chi’s case other than referring her to an attorney and giving her a ride. In a brief telephone conversation with Injustice Watch, Vazquez at first denied knowledge of Sunnie Massage. Security footage from the parking lot shows Chi, her employee, and an unidentified man getting in and out of the judge’s car.īoth videos were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. ![]() On July 18, Vazquez appeared again with Chi, this time outside Brookfield Village Hall, on the day she and her employee appeared with their attorney to resolve the administrative tickets issued by Brookfield police during the raid. The officers at the scene can be heard recognizing Vazquez as “a judge.” Several minutes later, Chi and Vazquez enter the parlor, and Vazquez can be heard explaining to the officers he is a “friend” of Chi and had just given her a ride to the business. On the video, officers from the Brookfield Police Department and Cook County Sheriff’s Police arrive at the parlor shortly after an undercover officer dealt with Chi and her employee to purchase a sex act, records show.Īs the raid begins, her employee tells officers on video that Chi stepped out to buy lunch. The judge briefly appears on police body camera footage from the raid, arriving at the massage parlor with Qingling Chi, who later paid fines related to sex work at the parlor. Vazquez, who has been on the bench since 2008 and was most recently assigned to hear felony cases in the Maywood courthouse, appeared on two separate videos last year with the owner of Sunnie Massage parlor - including during a June 30 police raid. This story was originally published by Injustice Watch, a nonprofit newsroom based in Chicago. Subscribe to Injustice Watch’s newsletter here.Ī Cook County judge’s friendship with the owner of a Brookfield massage parlor raided for offering illicit sex acts raises concerns about possible violations of ethics rules requiring judges to “avoid even the appearance of impropriety,” Injustice Watch has found.Īssociate Judge Gregory P. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |